WINNIPEG, CANADA - Dr. Olivier Châtelain de Pronville, assistant professor in French and Spanish and LSU Eunice's study abroad director was invited to present a paper at the International Colloquium at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada, in October.

Châtelain de Pronvile, a specialist in Francophone Studies and minority languages and cultures, presented a paper entitled: "Le mitchif: une langue française de la variabilité au même titre que le joual, le picard, le créole ou le cadien devrait être reconnu comme langue et littérature francophone". He explained the importance of transcription of orality, the methodologies used in the past, in Francophone areas such as southwestern Louisiana in the U.S. or Picardie in France to achieve this objective, and the means to make Mitchif literature an emergent literature in the francophone world.

The Colloquium took place at Saint-Boniface Museum, a historical landmark originally a convent and the largest oak log structure in North America. The Title of the colloquium was "Canada: Une culture de métissage (Transcultural Canada)". At the center of this colloquium was the Mitchif Nation: a powerful Native American Nation composed of a racially mixed French/Native American people who live on a large territory on both side of the US/Canadian border stretching from Manitoba in Canada to Illinois in the United States. In the late 19th century the nation created a free state with a government and a parliament. After arm wrestling with the Canadian Government and a few battles, they obtained the creation and the attachment of the state of Manitoba to Canada in 1870.

Scholars presenting at this colloquium came from various universities in Manitoba, Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec for Canada; Nantes and Clermont-Ferrand for France, The Russian Academy of Science of Moscow for Russia, Saarbrücken and Trier for Germany and Eunice, Louisiana for the United States.

Châtelain de Pronville's presentation generated a lot of interest and has been selected for a coming publication.

LSU Eunice is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate degrees. Contact the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, at http://www.sacscoc.org , or call 404-679-4500, for questions about the accreditation of LSU Eunice.

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